10 tips for THREADING A NEEDLE the right way

Threading the needle without loosing sanity

Frequent sewing has made me a little cross eyed. And nothing to say about the frustration of threading needles . Not any more – I have learned some tricks along the way which has made me an expert in starting off sewing without the swearing which was all too frequent earlier.

The old tried and tired way – First off you can try threading the needle the natural way – squinting your eyes and passing the thread’s cut end through the eye of the needle. Before attempting this you should cut the thread end at an angle so that the end is very thin – the 45 degree angle if you could with a very very sharp scissors.Then pinch the cut end ( edge) of the thread in between your forefinger and thumb and proceed slowly ( stealthily) to the static needle

A suckingly cool tip – I would not advise anybody to do this, but disgusting as it sounds – this additional tip works ; I simply suck at the cut end. The moisture in the saliva bonds the fibers at the cut end and the sucking thins the rough fibers to a tapered shape and makes it easier to go through the eye faster and easier. One disadvantage of this method other than the unprofessional way of it is that the moisture may rust your needle fast. I have read somewhere that if you moisten the needle eye, than the thread it works better, never tried that though, as all my other ways work very well.

Now on to the more professional ways.

Threading Hand sewing needles

Select the right needle – Hand embroidery needles have longer eye than other hand sewing needles and hence are easier to thread .When selecting the needle for hand embroidery you have to select the correct size because then only you can get the embroidery floss through the eye easily without much abrasion . If you select big needles for the ease in threading, you will be ending up with big big holes in the cloth.So you should aim for a fine balance.Checkout the 14 hand sewing and embroidery needles available for you.

Find the right side – Inspect your needle closely. Most of the needles will have one side of the eye bigger than the other. Thread through this side and you will find it easier.

Manage the thread – Cut about 20 inches of thread – this length is said to be the ideal length to avoid tangles and for ease of handling. Longer and you may find that it is a little too much for you to handle without forming knots. Coat the thread with beeswax for adding strength to the strands and to avoid the inevitable tangling of threads.

Find the grain of the hand embroidery thread – Cut out your thread and the first thing you should do is to check for the grain in your strand of thread. This will make your threading easier – a lot. Most often the cut end will be with the grain, but it is better to check for a good sewing experience. The on grain thread will pass through the needle faster and through the fabric even better.

If you have a very soft touch you maybe able to tell by just holding the strand between your fingers – like you can tell the direction of the nap of fleece by stroking it. The thread will feel smoother on the straight grain

Use self threading needle – These are easy to thread needles which makes threading needles a breeze – they have a slit in the eye of the needle through which you just have to slide the thread for the threading to be done. They are a boon to all those who struggle with threading needles. Main problem is to hold it when threading. You will have to finger feel the needle to find that slit . It is best if you keep the needle upright. I use a pincushion to keep it straight – you can use a rubber or cork too.

Use a wire loop needle threader – A needle threader comes with a thin wire loop at one end. Push this loop through your needle eye first.

Push the end of the thread a little through this loop. Now very carefully take out the loop out of the eye of the needle. The thread inside the loop will automatically bee pulled out through the eye. ;Lo presto you have a threaded needle.

Be very careful with the needle threader. The thin wire is very fragile.I have thrown a couple of broken needle threader in the waste basket – which talks a lot about my gentleness and carefulness. This small tool is very inexpensive but being gentle with your needle threader works to your advantage – you have this handy tool when you want it the most.

Use a paper piece – The method I find the best when I am nowhere near a needle threader and which works just as well is to use a simple thin piece of paper to thread.You can cut a piece of paper about 1-2 inches long . The width of the paper should be smaller than the eye of the needle ;It should cover the thread. Fold it in half and keep the end of the thread inside the paper. Push the folded paper through the eye of the needle. The thread inside (now sandwiched flat inside the paper folds)will easily slip through the needle eye

Threading sewing machine needles

All the other methods mentioned earlier like pinching the end of the cut end and using a wire loop needle threader works with sewing machine needles as well.

Use Self-Threading Needles

Just like for hand sewing, there are easy thread needles available in the market for those with threading difficulties. There is always this problem of the thread slipping out of the opening slot however.

Use the needle threader

Use automatic needle threader you get with most sewing machines – if you have one on your machine and haven’t used it, start using and you will find yourself hooked. Be careful with it though, especially during a sewing machine maintenance or sewing machine repair. It is very prone to be broken easily

You should be happily sewing rather than worrying about anything like threading the needle. Happy sewing